Thank you, Brother Frank. Acts chapter 16 this morning. Before we get started there, I want to just make a quick note. The prayer list, the prayer letter that gets emailed out every Sunday, there was a little bit of an issue with that getting emailed out today. So if you did not receive it or you received a blank email, you should receive another email this afternoon that's got all that information. Of course, we do have paper printouts here at either entrance that you can take as well. Let me ask you a question this morning. How many of us would be honest enough to say, this is probably one of those mornings where one more cup of coffee would have been good? Yeah, I'm there too, all right? I'm there too. I get it. Something about the, I don't know, it's kind of spring, kind of not, kind of humid, kind of not, kind of want to go outside, kind of don't want to go outside. It's just been them days, you know? But I pray, and this is my prayer, I pray that God gives us the grace this morning to truly give our hearts to focus on his word and what he has for us today. We're in Acts chapter 16. And Acts chapter 16 is really a very important transitional chapter in the Bible. Acts chapter 16 is the first time that the gospel message came westward in a formal way. At the beginning of Acts chapter 16, we see Paul desires to go to Asia. He wants to leave the Middle East area and go to Asia and preach the gospel. The Holy Spirit says no. And then in Acts chapter 16, verses 9 and 10, we find this. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. And there stood a man of Macedonia, westward in Europe, and prayed him, saying, come over into Macedonia and help us. And after he had seen the vision immediately, we endeavored to go into Macedonia and assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for the preach of the gospel unto them. And so we see this transition here, the gospel through the ministry of the apostle Paul begins to head westward to Europe and to those nations that were there. As you follow Acts 16, you find that first of all, Paul came to a city called Philippi. And in that city, God gave incredible blessings. In fact, they met a lady named Lydia down by the river, and Lydia's heart was ready to receive the gospel. And there on that day, down by the riverside, Lydia received the Lord Jesus Christ and was gloriously saved. As they ministered in the city, preaching and teaching, we would find another account of a young demon-possessed girl who was being used as a slave to almost be a soothsayer-like to her masters. And she would follow Paul and Silas around and say things and disrupt them. And the Bible says that Paul would turn aside and he cast that demon out of her. And that little demon-possessed girl, praise God, was demon-possessed no more. And that little girl got saved. And we see Lydia was ready. We see this girl was released. In the city of Philippi, revival was afoot. Now I don't know about you, but I am grateful. that even in 2025, Jesus is still the answer for every man, for every woman, for every boy, for every girl, for every situation, that there is no one too high, there is no one too low, there's no one too beautiful, there's no one too bound, there's no one too good, and there's no one too gross. As Paul said in Romans chapter one in verse number 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the The power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. Church, preach with me this morning. I'm glad Jesus is still the answer. Jesus said in John 7 verse number 37, He said, In that day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me. In John 14, verse number 6, Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, and no one cometh unto the Father but by me. Boy, what good news that is, amen? What good news that is, that Jesus is still the answer, and friend, Jesus is the answer for you. Lydia was ready. The girl was released. Revival was afoot. But as you read through Acts chapter 16, you know what you're going to find? You're going to find that not everyone was happy. Now listen, just because God is for you does not mean others won't be against you. In fact, it all but guarantees it. So go ahead and mark it down. The greater the calling, often the greater the conflict. And as Frank read in our opening scripture, Paul and Silas, we have this revival taking place. And these people, they rose up. The mob. They took Paul and Silas. They beat them. And they threw them in the innermost prison. You know, often we do find that the will of God leads to some dark and some difficult places. But what we're going to see today through the testimony of Paul and Silas is that the things that we learn, the things that we see, the things we experience at midnight. We're going to learn some things at midnight that is not as readily apparent at midday. We're going to call it this morning simply the magnificence of midnight. What do we see at midnight? Let's jump into our study this morning beginning in verse 22. And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid, how many stripes, church, when they had laid? Many stripes upon them, and cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stops. And at midnight, and at midnight, Paul and Silas, what did they do? They prayed and they sang praises unto God. And the prisoners heard them. Verse number 26, And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prisons were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed. The magnificence of midnight. Number one, at midnight we can see the magnificence of the Master. The magnificence of the Master. You know, things are different in the dark, aren't they? The bumps in the night sound different. The noises in the night sound different. The wind against the wall sounds different. The squirrel going across the roof sounds different. Everything sounds a little bit different when it's night time. We were rehanging some stuff, and we tried to rehang the ironing board on the wall behind the door. Use some of those command strips. You know, you look at the command strips, and they say, just one single plastic command strip can handle two tons of weight. Hang it here. Won't damage your drywall. OK. So we did like two or three command strips and held a really light ironing board. So wouldn't you know, we're in the other room, and all of a sudden, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Now, my first thought wasn't ironing board. Amy's first thought wasn't an iron board. You know what both of our first thoughts were? Some kids. Some stinking kids. Now she's a much better person than I. She thought maybe somebody fell out of bed. I thought somebody was fooling around. She was going up to comfort. I was going up to crack skulls. I go up the stairs. I'm ready. Who's up? Where is it? And then I look around. Ain't nobody moving up there. And my kids aren't smart enough to fake it that good. Like, I'm looking and ain't nobody moving. I'll come downstairs. I'm like, honey, it won't them. What was it then? Why? Because things sound a little bit different in the dark. You know, sometimes in the dark, things can feel more doubtful than they do during the daytime. You know, sometimes in the dark, things can feel more dire than they do in the daytime. You know, sometimes in the dark, things can feel a lot more lonely than they do in the daytime. Things feel different at midnight. Paul and Silas, the Bible says, were in the innermost prison. They had been beaten. They were bruised. They were raw. They were hungry and cold. They were surrounded by both vermin and villains. It was a desperate situation. And yet the Bible says in verse 25, and at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises. What happened here? Paul and Silas, simply this, found their focus captured, not by their misery, but by their master. You ever look up into the night sky and see the full moon? You ever look up into the night sky and see the stars shining through? You ever get out in the country and you can really see those stars? You can even see the wisps of the Milky Way streaming across the sky. Why? Because there's just some things you can appreciate in the dark that you can't appreciate in the light. Paul and Silas found their focus captured not by the darkness around them, not by the midnight, not by their misery, but by their master. Because they prayed and sang praises unto God. And by the way, when they sang praises, they weren't singing the blues. It wasn't the old jailhouse song, nobody knows. What trouble I've seen. No. Paul and Silas captured by the magnificence of their master, they went to the one who could help. I'm going to tell you, sometimes it takes midnight to find out some wonderful, amazing things about our God. Sometimes it takes a midnight to begin to see and understand the incredible greatness of God. When we come to the end of ourself, we can begin to see and experience Him in ways we never have before. It's kind of like when the kids and I sometimes try to do those pull-ups. Got a little pull-up bar in the room. And I'm right there. My presence is right there with the kids when they're doing the pull-ups. And they like to go. A couple of them can do one or two of their own, maybe. And then they get to the point where they're going, oh. You know, when they come to the end of their selves, they begin to see when daddy steps in how much they're really capable of. when Daddy gets involved. Friend, I'm going to tell you, you're going to learn some things about God at midnight that you're never going to learn about Him at midday. You're going to see some things, you're going to feel some things, experience some things, learn, come to know some things about God. Paul said this in 2 Corinthians 12, beginning in verse number 7. He said, lest I should be exalted above measure. Through the abundance of revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, punch me, lest I should be exalted above measure. Look what Paul did. He said, For this thing I have assaulted the Lord thrice, that he might depart from me. But look what God said. And he, the Lord, said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength, the Lord said, is made perfect in weakness. Paul said, Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmity, my weakness, my malady, my triumph, my tribulation. Why? That the power of Christ may rest upon me. Sometimes it takes midnight to begin to see the magnificence of the Master in a new way. The magnificence of the fact that He is a magnificent friend. In John 15 in verse 13, Jesus said, this greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Look at verse 15 as well. Jesus said, henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what the Lord doeth, but I have called you friends. Called you friends. You know, in this life, truly, there is one friend that you cannot afford to be without. When midnight comes and everybody else walks out, he'll walk in. He's always present, amen? Hebrews 13 verse 5 tells us that we ought to be content with such things as we have, for He has said, I will never leave thee. He said, nor forsake thee. He's there for us anytime, anywhere. He's all-powerful. Jeremiah 12, 32, sorry, verse number 17. Our Lord God, behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and stretched out a harm, and nothing is too hard for thee. You know, there's nothing I'm going to face that's beyond Him. He's always present, He's all-powerful, He's all-sufficient. I love to think this about my God, that He knows, He knows where I'm at, He knows what I'm going through, He knows, He's near, and He's enough. And sometimes when we find ourselves in midnight, we gotta take our eyes off the darkness, off the midnight, off the misery, and put it back on the Master. Let it go, and let Him shine. He's a magnificent friend. He is a faithful friend. You know, I think Paul and Silas took some time to remember. I think they remembered. I think they took time there, in the innermost prison, and that they rehearsed the greatness of God. As the psalmist said in Psalm 103, beginning in verse number two, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgiveth all the iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things. So that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. Look at verse number 12, I believe it is. Yeah, 12. The Bible says, As far as the east is from the west, so far have He removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. I think Paul and Silas began to rehearse some things about the faithfulness of God, about the power of God, the glory of God, the plan of God. And as they began to rehearse these things, as often happens, remembering leads to rejoicing. You know, truth is light. And truth has this funny habit, light has this funny habit of shining in darkness. In fact, you know, the darker it is, the more light stands out. And so the truth shines through. And I begin to see the magnificence of the Master in a new way. That whatever this thing is, boy, it has come upon me, but it cannot conquer me. Why? Because I have a magnificent Master who is in control. I begin to remember that whatever tries to overcome me has already been overcome by Him. The magnificence of the Master. Christian, I challenge us this morning, don't forget in the dark what you knew in the light. I know it's dark sometimes, but I don't always have to see it. I don't always have to see, I don't always have to feel His goodness to believe His goodness. The psalm was said in Psalm 27 beginning in verse 13. I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I believed to see it. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. It may be midnight for you. You may be going through trials and tribulations, struggles that you've told no other soul. But I'm going to tell you, part of the magnificence of midnight is that you can see the magnificence of the Master. And you can see it better in the dark. Friend, God is enough. But I remind us, if you want to be able to worship Him and find His magnificence in the night, then you better learn to walk with Him in the light. Magnificence of the Master. So the magnificence of midnight, what is it? Number one, it allows us to see the magnificence of the Master in ways that maybe we never have before. A deeper appreciation for God, who He is, all that He does. And so we have Paul and Silas, there at midnight, sang and prayed and praised the Lord. That's not how the story ends. Let's keep going, verse number 26. Here the Bible says, And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed. Hot dog, let's go. Amen and amen. And the keeper of the prison, awakening out of his sleep, seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called for a line and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. The magnificence of midnight. Number one, it's magnificent because it allows us to what? See the magnificence of the master. Number two, the magnificence of midnight allows us to see the magnificence of the mission. See Paul in silence prayed and sang and God shook the house loose. Doors opened. Chains fell off. By the way, that's the kind of miracle I like, amen? Just shake it down, Lord. Doors open, chains off, God showed up and everybody got shook. The prison got shook. The prisoners got shook. The prison guard got shook. By the way, when God truly shows up, everybody does get shook, amen? Now I want to explain a little bit here the intent of the guard. He was ready to commit suicide here. What was that for? Well, that guard recognized that had a prisoner escaped, he would have been executed for dereliction of duty. And so in a panic, he was ready to save everybody the trouble. But before he had the chance to commit that awful act against himself, Paul and Silas cry out and let him know that nobody had left. Why don't you think about that with me? When it's midnight, and you're locked up in the innermost prison, and God shows up, and the doors open up, and the chains fall off, what do you think is the normal response? Kind of a no-brainer, right? Doors are open. Chains are off. Round them up, fellas. It is time to get moving. And I'm going to tell you, you want to talk about singing in the prison. Maybe some of us would have sang some songs at midnight, all chained up, bloody and bruised. Maybe some of us would have tried to eke out some songs. But I'm going to tell you, we'd all been singing, marching out the front door. I mean, we sang that song this morning. Victory in Jesus, my Savior, see ya. forever. He sought me, high-fiving each other, and he bought me with, oh, how about this one? Some glad morning when this life is over. Ah, oh, that was almost bad. Fly away. I mean, we'd have been singing, walking out them doors, right? Ah. But the craziest thing happened. Doors flew open. Chains fell off, but no one ran. You know, I think Paul recognized something. Paul knew that God had a purpose for midnight that was more impactful, more about being impactful than it was a simple escape. And you know, this is a challenge to us because not every grass that looks greener is God's will. You know, we live in a generation that if I can get a little better offer somewhere else. We jump. We jump, we jump, we jump. We do it in careers. We do it in relationships. People treat marriage that way a lot. If I can trade up, if I can trade this, and we, what do we do? We find a patch of grass that looks a little bit greener and be like, well, God wouldn't have opened this door if he didn't want me to walk through it. Hmm. But maybe, maybe, just maybe, God's got something else in mind. Can I talk a little bit this morning about the magnificence of the mission? You know what Paul understood at midnight? Paul understood at midnight the magnificence of the mission is that no matter where you find yourself, God has a purpose. That God has something for you to do and God has something for you to learn. The magnificence of the mission is this, is that God is big enough to take our problems and give them purpose, to take our pain and to make it a platform for His glory. In fact, when Paul wrote back to the church of Philippi in Philippians 1, beginning in verse number 12, he said, but I would have you understand, brethren, that the things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather to the furtherance of the gospel. So that in my bonds, Paul was in house arrest. Paul was locked up, he said, so that in my bonds, bonds in Christ are manifest in the palace and in all other places. And many of the brethren of the Lord, waxing confident in my bonds, are so much more bold to speak the word without fear." And Paul points out that even in my problems, and even in my pain, God is taking these, what would be considered negative situations, and doing marvelous, magnificent, even miraculous things through them. I think a beautiful illustration of this is Ron Hamilton. If you're not familiar with Ron Hamilton, he's home with the Lord now, but a gifted musician and gifted in a number of ways. And early in his life, Ron Hamilton developed eye cancer. I don't think anybody would ask for eye cancer. I don't think that's what anybody's shooting for, right? And so through the eye cancer, Ron Hamilton lost his eye. Now, I'm sure that there are probably a lot of ways that he could have been discouraged by that and depressed by that. There could have been a lot of ways that he questioned God and kind of pulled back and shut down. But you know what God did? God took that man that now had one eye, gave him an eye patch, and then put it in his heart to minister to kids. Well, how's a one-eyed man gonna minister to kids? I mean, that seems creepy, right? Except the Lord gave him a ministry. He called himself Patch the Pirate. and produced dozens and even hundreds of songs and stories that have, at this point, taught boys and girls about the Lord Jesus Christ for generations. I grew up on them. My kids have grown up on them. By the way, if you've got young kids, they would be fantastic for your kids as well. And what happened? God was big enough to take a problem and give it purpose. God is big enough to take pain and make it into a platform. And Paul realized God had a cause for this conflict. And that God's purpose, hear me, God's purpose in the earthquake was not to get His man out of a mess, but rather to get His message to a man. There was a prison full of people and a jailer who needed to hear the magnificent news of Jesus. So as we think about midnight tonight, I remind you it's not just midnight. There is a mission in the midnight. And Christian, I implore you to get passionate about God's purpose. Maybe God's purpose is not just for you to get out of it. Maybe God's purpose isn't for you to have all the answers. Maybe God's purpose isn't for you to find that earthly comfort that your heart longs for. Maybe God has a greater purpose in your midnight than you can even imagine. But let's get passionate about God's purpose. Let's get passionate about God's purpose. And by the way, passion is contagious. You know why I think those other prisoners stuck around? Remember, they weren't good guys in jail for wrong reasons. The other guys weren't in jail because they had preached about Jesus. They were in jail because they did bad things. Why'd the rest of them stick around? Why, when the jailer found out nobody had left, why did the jailer come and fall at the feet of Paul and Silas? I mean, get back in your cell, all of you. Why did the jailer fall at the feet of Paul in silence and ask, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Why? I believe with all my heart, because they heard them sing, and they heard them pray, and they saw the passion. And I'm going to tell you, there was something about the passion for God that was contagious. You ever cared for a sick person before? They get better, and you wake up with a cough, right? Magnificence of midnight. So often we settle for getting out of a situation instead of figuring out why God put us in that situation in the first place. Recognize this morning, survival doesn't always equal success. I think about the nation of Israel. First Samuel 17, Goliath has come, and Goliath has come and challenged the nation of Israel multiple times for 40 days. Send a man. We'll fight. The nation of Israel decided that discretion was the better part of valor. And so for 40 days, no one went to fight Goliath. Israel was surviving. Little David showed up and said, you know what? Somebody needs to do something about this. So he took his rod, he took his sling, he took his stones, and he went to meet the giant, and they exchanged some banter, but I want you to look what David said. He said, this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcass of the host of the Philistines this day into the fowls of the air, into the wild beasts of the earth. Now, let me pause for a moment, all right? So you have, in essence, probably a 15, 16-year-old kid, Spouting off to a nine foot plus UFC heavyweight heavyweight champion Wagging his finger. I'm gonna take your head off your shoulders. I'm gonna feed your carcass to the animals Why in that verse? That all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel This assembly shall know that the Lord save of not with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord's He will give you into our hands. You see, there is a worthy mission that God gives us even at midnight. Friend, no matter where you are this morning, God's desire is that you not just make it, but that you make something of it. That's the magnificence of the mission. God can give you a purpose right where you are. The magnificence of midnight. The magnificence of midnight, number one, it allows us to see the magnificence of what? The magnificence of the Master. Number two, it allows us to find the magnificence of the mission. I want you to see how our story ends this morning. Back to Acts 16, verse 31. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved in thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord unto all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, washed their stripes, and was baptized he in all his straight way. And when they had brought them into his house, he sat meek before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house. Verse 35, And when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, Let those men go. And the keeper of the prison told this to Paul, the magistrates have sent to let you go, now therefore depart and go in peace. Jump down to verse 39. And they came and brought them and besought them and brought them out and desired them to depart out of the city. And they went out of the prison and entered into the house of Lydia. You remember her? She was the first one to get saved. And when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them and departed. the magnificence of midnight. Number one, it allows us to appreciate the magnificence of the... Number two, it allows us to appreciate the magnificence of the... Number three, it allows us to appreciate the magnificence of the morning. Praise God, midnight doesn't last forever. You see, the thing about midnight is midnight represents both an end and a beginning. I can remember growing up, you had those little alarm clocks with a little dot on it. And sometimes, sometimes if you stayed up just late enough, you could see the little dot, depending on what model you had, flip to the other side or disappear entirely. Wow. I dated myself right there. But midnight represents both an end and a beginning. As night turned to day, the jailer and his family put their faith in the Lord Jesus. Paul and Silas are released from prison. They met back up with and encouraged the new church at Lydia's house. Then they were on their way. What do we see here this morning about the magnificence of the morning? That no matter how dark it seems, Christian hear me, the night will not last forever. Now I want to caution you this morning, this doesn't mean that it always goes back to the way it was. I'm going to tell you, Paul got the snot beat out of him before he got thrown in prison. I'm going to guarantee you, as Paul walked down that road that day, I'm going to guarantee you Paul hobbled a little bit. He limped a little bit because he had had the snot beaten out of him the day before. He had been beaten with many stripes. It doesn't mean that things will always go back to the way it was. By the way, we're reminded many times in scriptures what? Sometimes it is not the Lord's will for you to get out of the prison. You remember Hebrews 11? The end of that chapter, we talked about all the glorious men and women of faith, and the mouths of lions were stopped, and the fire didn't hurt people, and women whose children had died, they were raised to life again. And we find all of these wonderful miracles, and yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. But then what does it say? And others, and others, and others. This is still the hall of faith. This is still men and women who believed, and others. They had trial of cruel mocking and scourging, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn asunder. They were tempted. They were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented. Sometimes, it's not God's will that the prison gets shook and you get out. Sometimes, as John the Baptist shows, it's God's will that Herod take your head. And you know, sometimes from the earthly side, sometimes it looks like darkness wins, doesn't it? But faith reminds us that's not the case. Faith reminds us that for all who know the Lord, eventually our sorrow and our mourning will give way to the morning light. Whether that is a new day or whether that is the eternal day. The night doesn't last forever. The morning is coming. In Malachi chapter 4, we have a beautiful promise. The prophet writes, "...for behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble. And the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall see the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings. Hey, the morning's coming, amen? The morning is coming. And ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall. In the New Testament, Romans 8 reminds us this in verse number 18. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time say it with me, are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. The magnificence of the morning. The night won't last forever. Whether God gives us a new day or God brings us into the eternal day, to think about the magnificence of morning, I'm reminded that there's a peace that often comes in the morning. Lamentations 3, beginning in verse 22, it is of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. There's a perspective that often comes in the morning. That's why we say things like we have to sleep on it. In the morning, we begin to see that the purpose is greater than the pain. You know, a lot of times in our lives as we think about what the Lord is doing here on earth and the Lord is doing even in our own hearts, it is like even in the process of childbirth. Never been through it. Never want to go through it. Ever. Don't have to. I can tell you this, even as my wife and I have welcomed four wonderful children into the world, that even though it hurts to the point of death, you find on the other side that it's but a small price to pay for what's to come. And Christian, even when it hurts to the point of death, when the morning breaks, we are going to find that it is but a small price to pay for what's to come. I love Paul's relationship with this church at Philippi. Later, Paul wrote a book to this church. It's called the book of Philippians. And you know, Paul wrote to this church. And honestly, if it were me, I'd have a hard time shaking some of the things I went through there. You know, and this is how petty I am. I've coached basketball at the Christian school for a number of years and there are just some gyms I go to and I go there with a bad attitude. I frankly, well you know how they are there. I don't go to that place. Their referees are stinky. You know, their court's this, their court's that. Why? Because when I remember that place, I immediately connect it with a bad experience. Paul had some bad experiences in Philippi. But I want you to see what he says, Philippians 1 beginning in verse 2. He said, Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Look what he says. He says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Why? Because there is a magnificence in the morning. when you find that peace and perspective that the night withheld. Because the magnificence of the morning will declare that it is worth it to walk with God, that it is worth it to worship God, it is worth it to work for God at midnight, both now and forever. Christians, church, morning's coming. I got something crazy to suggest. Morning's coming. We may as well start celebrating and praising and worshiping right now. Paul's actions at the jail at midnight demonstrated that he believed God. He believed to see the goodness of God. When it was midnight, he believed that morning was coming. And so, church, we learn to embrace it. James 1 and verse number 2 reminds us to count it all joy when we fall into divers trials and temptations. I challenge us to even go a step further, not just to embrace it, but in anticipation of what's to come, learn to enjoy it. By the way, that's a faith reaction right there. That when the world has chewed me up and spit me out and beat me down, that I can still pray and sing praise at midnight. You know, I think about this. Think about dinner. And think about ice cream. It is hard to be too grumpy with the casserole when you know ice cream's coming. The other night, I was on my own. Amy was at the ladies' thing, and so I had a couple of the kids, so we had some leftovers. And I kind of did the whole, like, dad bribe thing. And I didn't really want to fight him, so I said, look, eat your food. This is the little one. I said, eat your stinking food, and then I will take you to go get ice cream. Ice cream? Ice cream? And so guess what? There were no fights at dinner that night. The little one, he ate and ate and ate, and he did great. It was fantastic. Not always the case, but it was that night. So then we went to Miller's, and I let the boy pick out ice cream. And he was hopping up and down. He was so excited, so excited that he grabbed the ice cream and immediately started trying to lick the lid. I'm like, no! I may not always like what's on my plate in the moment, But praise God, I know God's got something in store. The magnificence of midnight is that it allows me to appreciate the magnificence of the morning. And so church, tonight the challenge is simple. Make the most of midnight. Some of us are struggling this morning. We're in a funk. Our relationships are strained. There's a lot of unknown in our life. There's health problems. We're struggling with temptation and sin. We're struggling with just life in general. Discouragement, doubt, despair, depression. Make the most of midnight. Learn to see the magnificence of the Master. He shines so brightly against the dark of night. Learn to see the magnificence of the mission. God's not put you there just so you can get through it, but so that you can make something of it. And learn to appreciate the magnificence of the morning. No matter how dark the night seems now, church, morning is coming. And I'm reminded as I look at Paul and Silas, a faith that could not be shaken. The prison was shaken. The prisoners were shaken. The jailer was shaken. Paul and Silas were not shaken. A faith that could not be shaken shook the world. You say, well preacher, that's just not where I am this morning. It's not midnight for me. One day it probably will be. This is one of those messages you need to file away. Because one day it will be. But perhaps this morning you know I'm not there, but somebody else is. I'm going to tell you, if you know somebody else is struggling at midnight, go help them. Don't wait for them. You take the initiative. I even challenge you this morning, church, walk across the sanctuary, put your arm around somebody and pray with them right there in the pew. Let's make the most of midnight. Before we close, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention this. God did some miraculous things. He shook the prisons. He downed giants. He closed the mouth of lions. But I'm going to tell you the greatest miracle that God ever performed is when He gave His Son. He gave His Son to live among us. He gave His Son to die for us. And He gave His Son to rise again to offer forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. For those who do not know, the Lord Jesus is your Savior. I'm going to tell you, without Him, you really don't have a morning to look forward to. But the good news is, a relationship with God is not some crazy, complicated process you have to follow. We find it right in our text. Sirs, what must I do to be saved, He said. And the answer was believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to tell you whatever your need this morning, Jesus is the answer. Let's get to Him and allow Him to help us make the most of midnight. Standing together this morning, heads bowed, eyes closed.